Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

On March 23, 2010, the President signed into law H.R. 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The Act, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 on March 30, 2010, implements sweeping health care changes that affect individual and employer-sponsored health plans. While many of the provisions will not take effect until 2014, a number of reforms take place this year.

Some of the highlights of the legislation include:

• Tax credits starting in 2010 for qualifying small businesses that provide health coverage,
• Dependent coverage up to age 26,
• Prohibitions on pre-existing condition exclusions and limitations for children under 19, and in 2014 for adults,
• Prohibitions on lifetime caps, and a restriction and eventual ban on annual caps,
• Prohibitions on rescissions of coverage, absent fraud or intentional misrepresentation,
• State-administered exchanges through which qualified individuals and small businesses can purchase health plans,
• Subsidies for individuals unable to receive affordable coverage from work,
• Penalties for employers with 50+ employees that do not provide certain coverage, and
• A requirement that most U.S. citizens and legal residents acquire health coverage.

or Log In